During ReFoReMo, our big goal was to read 105 books in 3 weeks.Maybe you were able to keep up or exceed this goal and even blog about the books you read?Bravo! I’d encourage you to consider applying for a position as a CYBILS (Children and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) panelist. The call for judges is now open! As a 2014 Round 1 Judge, I can tell you it was a lot of joyous literary work. Round 1 involves reading 200+ books in about a month and a half.If you liked the busy library pace we established during ReFoReMo and even blogged about it, you may be a great Round 1 candidate.Sound interesting? Take a look at the Judging Overview on the CYBILS site.

I realize back-to-school-time is super duper crazy for everyone. Therefore, instead of offering a NEW challenge this month, I’d like to extend a catch-up opportunity with the prior challenges I’ve presented to you. First and foremost, if you feel out of touch with your picture book research habits, I encourage you to complete the entire ReFoReMo challenge again. Every time I reread a book or a post, I pick up something different from it that I didn’t have before. There are links to every 2015 ReFoReMo Author-Educator post HERE. Reread the posts and the recommended books. Add in some brand new books to the mix, as they fit with the post’s theme. If you’ve already been there and done that, you can catch up with the post-ReFoReMo Challenges at each of these links:2 months of Diversity Challenges:(HERE and HERE)Interactive ChallengeRhyming ChallengeFirst Person Challenge Or, you can challenge yourself to write a quirky character-driven story with inspiration and research from this post on QU-aracters.Have fun pursuing picture books and sending your kiddos off to school again. I’m looking forward to some quiet reading and writing time!

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Illustration by Lori Nawyn

ReFoReMo

March 1-31The ReFoReMo Challenge, or Reading for Research Month Challenge, was developed to help picture book writers reform writing by reading and researching picture books. Challenge registration opens February 15. To find out more or to subscribe to the Reading for Research Blog for weekly posts year round, visit our new exclusive site at www.reforemo.com.